August 6, 2016

This past week, one of my favorite patients came back from a visit to Mississippi and was distraught. This patient was diagnosed with diabetes 6 years ago, and after significant weight loss he had to be placed on insulin. Being one of those people who believed he could “cure” his diabetes and get off of insulin, he started eating very clean and lean and became an avid runner and triathlon participant. His A1c that had been 13.1 is now consistently below 5.6.

He was upset that on this 7 day trip he had suddenly lost all control of his diabetes, even while using more insulin on the trip than he had in many years. My first thought was that the insulin got too hot in the car and had lost its effectiveness, but he had already thought of that and bought new insulin on the trip. As we talked, I found out that they had gone by car and the drive was 13 hours each way. On top of that, they went to visit some family members, and that was another 7 hour drive. We were starting to go over all of his food and activity and when and where he ate, and to save time we decided that he would go home and list all of his foods and then return to see me the next day.

On Thursday he came back with the information and was ready to hear a lecture about what he had done on the trip, but instead I handed him a copy of this month’s feature from Dr Sheri Colberg, and told him to read it and be prepared next time. If you want to find out what Dr. Colberg shared that saved my patient from a scolding, then click here.